Dawe: It’s all about everyone working as a team

GRAHAM Dawe’s links with Bath remain intact, not least because as head coach of Wellington RFC, the Somerset club promoted recently to South West 1 /West, this season’s captain is Danny Lee, the son of his old front row mucker Richard Lee during their glory days at The Rec.

England hooker Dawe and tighthead Lee had a mutual interest not only as brothers in arms in the Bath scrum, but also as farmers, and they shared lifts to and from training throughout their many seasons at the club.

Dawe explains that he is still very much a Bath fan, and says: “It’s my club, and although there hasn’t been much success over a long period it is easy to throw mud, and I don’t want to do that.”

Instead, Dawe, below, who earned a reputation as a hard-as-nails No.2, limits himself to a couple of succinct observations.

“It doesn’t matter whether the team is amateur or professional, you must build a team with the right values first, and then add your superstars – because if you try to do it the other way round it doesn’t work.

“It is still ultimately a team game. For every line-break or try there is a lot of unseen work and the competitive desire that gets you there, and if you don’t have enough players to do that work it doesn’t happen.

“If you take a driving maul try as an example, it’s what goes on at the front that makes what happens at the back possible.”

Having fulfilled his duty of care, Dawe keeps his counsel, closing the manual gleaned from years of helping to fill the Bath clubhouse with silverware.